Foxtrot
The Foxtrot is a smooth progressive dance characterized by long, continuous flowing movements making one feel like they are gliding across the dance floor with ease.. It is mostly danced to big band music like Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, or Michael Buble, and the feeling is one of elegance and sophistication.
A beautiful and romantic dance, the Foxtrot is composed of fairly simple walking steps and side steps. The dance combines slow steps, which use two beats of music, and quick steps, which use one beat of music. The footwork timing is usually "slow, quick, quick" or "slow, slow, quick, quick."
Waltz
Waltz is a smooth progressive dance characterized by long, flowing movements, continuous turns, and rise & fall. Graceful and elegant, Waltz dancers glide around the floor almost effortlessly.
Unique to the Waltz are the techniques of "rise and fall" and "body sway." Rise and fall is the elevating and lowering that a dancer feels as he or she moves onto the toes, then relaxes through the knee and ankle, ending on a flat foot. This stylish action gives couples an up-and-down appearance as they glide around the floor. Body sway gives couples a pendulum-like look, swinging and swaying their upper bodies in the direction they are moving. These actions should be smooth and confident, making the Waltz a simple, yet elegant and beautiful dance.
Tango
Tango is the "Dance of Romance!" Known for it's passion and flirtatious style, Tango is a fun dance to learn for all. Just apply quick staccato feeling, striking foot action, and dramatic snapping turns of the head and you just be missing the rose.
The Tango has a few variations in which it is danced: American Style, International Style, and Argentine Tango being the most popular. All styles are considered to be social and competitive dances, but International Style is generally used more often in ballroom competitions.
Rumba
Also known as "the dance of love," the Rumba is full of sensual movement and considered by many to be the sexiest and most popular of the ballroom dances, and is seen around the world at nightclubs, parties, weddings and dance competitions.
Rumba is a dance of Cuban origin, combining complex footwork with pronounced hip movement. Rumba is characterized by its sensual and romantic feel and has been called the dance of love.
Ballroom Rumba was derived from a Cuban rhythm and dance called the "bolero-son".
The international style was derived from studies of dance in Cuba in the pre-revolutionary period.
The distinctive hip movement, called Cuban Motion, is a very important element of the Rumba. These hip movements and characteristic sways of the Rumba are generated by the bending and straightening of the knees. The basic rhythm of the Rumba is quick-quick-slow with distinctive side-to-side hip movements.
Cha Cha
Lively and flirtatious, the Cha Cha is full of passion and energy. This dance is an exciting Latin dance best known for its lively and playful character, syncopated footwork, and quick rotating Cuban motion
The basic components of the Cha Cha are triple steps and rock steps. Quick, small steps must be maintained throughout the dance. The Cha Cha requires very small steps because of its rhythm. The cha-cha part of the rhythm is a triple step or a syncopation step that makes its signature appearance. The triple is similar to East Coast Swing's triple step, but has a more impact in its movement than the "swing". It is danced to 4/4 time, meaning that there are four beats to a measure.
Swing
There are many different styles of swing dancing. East Coast Swing, West Coast Swing, Lindy, Jive, Carolina Shag, and Country Western Swing are just a few that can be named. Each of these dances has its own unique footwork, timing, musical style, and interpretation.
The historical development of particular swing dance styles was often in response to trends in popular music. For example, 1920s and solo Charleston was - and is - usually danced to 2/4 ragtime music or traditional jazz, Lindy Hop was danced to swing music (a kind of swinging jazz), and Lindy Charleston to either traditional or swing jazz. West Coast Swing is usually danced to Pop, R&B, Blues, or Funk. Western Swing and Push/Whip are usually danced to country and western or Blues music. One of the most popular styles danced today is the East Coast Swing as it became more common between 1975 and 1980. East Coast Swing can be referred to by many different names in different regions of the United States and the World. It has alternatively been called Eastern Swing, Jitterbug, American Swing, East Coast Lindy, Lindy (not to be confused with Lindy Hop), and Triple Swing.
